VINELAND – Work to address the threat of a possible ammonia leak at Vineland Ice and Cold Storage wrapped up Saturday afternoon with two of the plant's four gas release points tied into an air scrubber.

“Two of the four have been secured, two have not,” Dwayne Harrington, the federal Environmental Protection Agency on-scene coordinator told The Daily Journal Saturday afternoon.

The shelter-in-place advisory for the area was issued for when work was underway, Harrington said.

"Now there is no active work being performed, we will lift that advisory,” he said.

But as the project proceeds into next week, Harrington said, “it’s important people remember the instructions.”

The city set up a Nixle alert system for residents to sign up to receive text notification in the event of an emergency.

Two ground-level valves, on the east side of the building, are now tied into a 21,000-gallon tank. Should any of the anhydrous ammonia used in the plant’s refrigeration system leak through the valves, it would be neutralized by the water.

The other valves, located in elevated positions, must still be addressed.

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Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials are working on a plan to connect the two valves at the top of these towers into the air scrubber.(Photo: Deborah M. Marko/Staff Photo)

“The state of deterioration was such that they could not be securely attached,” Harrington said.

Environmental, health and safety officials are working to develop a plan to complete the project, he said. A mechanical and structural assessment at the plant is scheduled for Monday.

Work crews set up the staging area at 7 a.m. Saturday and began the work at 8 a.m. About a half-dozen area residents took the city’s offer to relocate to the Carl Arthur community center a few blocks away while contractors were at the scene.

The decision was based on “better safe than sorry,” said Peach Street resident Maria Soto, watching her grandchildren shoot basketballs at an indoor hoop at the center.

When work wrapped up about 10:30 a.m., officials lifted the traffic detours in the area, except along Sixth and Pear streets where Vineland firefighters were using a 3-inch line to fill the air scrubber water tank.

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Two ammonia gas release valves, located at ground-level, at Vineland Ice and Cold Storage, were tied into the air scrubber on Saturday.(Photo: Deborah M. Marko/Staff Photo)

Residents of houses immediately across the street from the plant, relocated by EPA as a precaution, will remain out of their homes through Tuesday, Harrington said.

As a safety precaution, EPA personnel and contractors are currently on site 24 hours a day, and six air monitors have been set up around the outside of the facility and the surrounding neighborhood, officials said.

The monitoring system is designed to detect ammonia and alert operators in case of a release. A wind sock has been installed at the facility to track wind direction in the area. If the air monitors detect levels of ammonia at 15 parts per million, EPA and Vineland emergency response officials will know immediately and take necessary actions to notify the community.

Short-term exposure to anhydrous ammonia can produce eye, nose and throat irritation, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract irritation, and burns, blisters, and frostbite. Exposure can be fatal at very high concentrations.

Local emergency response officials will activate “shelter in place” plans in the event that they become necessary. Follow the instructions available at http://www.vldhealth.org/. Residents will be informed by local emergency management officials to close their windows and turn off their air conditioning to avoid allowing harmful or noxious fumes in their homes. A “shelter in place” advisory is possible in the coming days, EPA officials warned.